


the hand life deals you

by cinderfell



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Albeit Fake Ones, Card Readings, Flirting, M/M, Post-Episode: s02e01 Curious Beginnings, Wildemount Campaign
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 04:42:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13356732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderfell/pseuds/cinderfell
Summary: Mollymauk is a strange man, Fjord decides. At least he's interesting.





	the hand life deals you

**Author's Note:**

> it's been one day but i'm very on board with a bunch of ships from the new campaign, so here! take something with beef warlock and gaudy conman.

"Care for a reading of your cards, tall one?" 

With a frown, Fjord looks up into the tattooed, glamorous face of the purple tiefling they've somehow become intertwined with in the past few days. The tiefling, Mollymauk-- and what a name that is, Fjord thinks with a bit of amusement, although he's certainly heard much stranger-- stands across from the table he currently sits at, a deck of his cards in hand and an ever present smile on his face. 

Fjord contemplates turning him down for a moment. He doesn't believe in Molly's cards and suspected it was all a ruse from the first time the other man read for Jester, with the strange, unwashed man who identified himself as Caleb confirming it shortly after. He also is quite enjoying his book, one he picked up for cheap from a market he passed through with Jester and Beau about a week back. It's a short history of the dragon attacks twenty years prior, a volume of a larger series he's only found one or two other books from. He's liked what he's read so far, although he admits this one has started to drag towards the end. Still, he'd like to read the ending so he can move on to the later volumes if he can find them. 

"Will I have to pay?" Fjord asks dryly, absently thumbing the edge of his book. 

"Hmm. How about I give you this one on the house? Just this once?" Molly's grin widens, leaning an elbow on the back of the chair across from Fjord. 

Well, why not? 

"I could use some entertainment," Fjord agrees finally, folding the edge of the page over to mark his spot before setting the book off to the side. 

"Excellent!" And with that, Molly drops down into the seat across from him and starts shuffling his deck. "Now, usually I'll have you ask a question, but perhaps you'd like a general reading about yourself first, yes? See how the cards favor you?" 

Fjord snorts. "Whatever you say." 

"A wise answer!" Molly flashes his wide smile at him, and this time Fjord can't help but notice how peculiar the smile is. From a ways away, it's a fairly standard smile, if a little too over the top. This close, though, he can see all the little things that throw it off. It's a little too wide, his teeth a little too sharp, the way his eyes look you over a little too sharp. It's almost unnerving, like he's a predator looking for signs of weakness in his prey. 

A friendly front while he figures out how to read you, Fjord would guess. 

After a moment, Molly draws three cards and places them facedown on the table between them. "You may turn them over as you see fit!" 

Fjord watches the other man's tail curl back and forth behind him, making the tiefling resemble a cat that just got the canary. He really does enjoy this, Fjord thinks as he reaches out and turns over the first card: a sword. 

Molly clicks his tongue, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest-- partially bared with a deep V collar-- as he looks the card over. "The Sword! Always a curious one, that one. You have great conflict ahead of you, and many paths because of it. What you chose to do when it comes for you will ultimately be your choice." He tilts his head slightly. "I'm interested to see what you choose." 

The Sword, Fjord thinks with amusement. An apt pick, especially given he carries his hulking sword along with him at all times. 

"Interesting," he says, and it is. A little more forward of a pick from Molly than he expected, but he supposes it was an obvious choice. "Let's see what else you have." 

"Be my guest!" Molly says with a laugh, gesturing at the two remaining cards. "They're yours to turn, my friend!" 

So he does. He turns the next one over, revealing a wolf alone on a hill. 

"The Wolf!" Molly exclaims. "Ah, that's another interesting one! Quite a fascinating specimen you are, Fjord. This card represent the idea of being alone, of isolation. Usually from the ones someone loves, such as friends or family. Or, perhaps, isolation from one's very society given their heritage." 

Ah. The half-orc thing. 

Yeah. He's definitely bullshitting him. 

After a moment of Fjord studying him in silence for a moment, Molly leans forward in his chair. "Thoughts, Fjord?" 

"You're a conman," Fjord says finally. Not an accusation, a simple statement of fact. 

He barks out a sharp laugh. "Why, Fjord! Whatever would make you say that?" 

"The card with the sword? The not so subtle reference to me being a half-orc?" Fjord snorts. "Molly, these are just things you could pull by looking at me and give me to think I'm experiencing something magical." 

"How do you know, though?" Molly says, except he's smiling again, almost a bit warmer than the slightly feral smile he usually wears. 

"Well, I could detect magic and find none here, but I think we both know I won't find any." Fjord gestures at the cards. "So, you're a conman. It's that simple, isn't it?" 

Molly hums thoughtfully at that, gently tapping the deck of cards against the edge of the table. "I suppose some might call me that. I much prefer the title of clever salesman. One who's able to read people and tell them what they want to hear." 

Fjord raises an eyebrow. "You're doing it right now, you know; selling something like it's better than it actually is." 

The other man laughs. "Am I? It's quite hard to tell sometimes, much less stop when I'm not aware!" After a moment, he hums, sitting an elbow on the table and leaning his chin on his hand as he looks at Fjord with thoughtful, sharp eyes. "So I suppose you're right, it's not magic in the arcane sense. It's magic in the _me_ sense, in that I'm able to read people." 

"My cards were fairly basic," Fjord replies dryly. 

"True, true," Molly relents. "I admit, you're a rather hard man to read, Fjord. Deceptively clever, though. Almost as clever as you are handsome." 

Oh? 

"Well," Fjord starts, clearing his throat. Molly smirks, his tail curling in satisfaction. "People don't expect a half-orc to be smart, I suppose. It catches people off guard." 

"You're quite charming in your own way, as well as being clever. Perhaps one of the most charming people I've met, half-orc or otherwise. There's just something fascinating about you. A force of personality, if you would." At the tiefling's words, Fjord feels the tips of his pointed ears start to heat up slightly. 

"Thank you?" Fjord squints at the other man. 

"Ah, but my friend! You still have one more card left! Humor me, despite knowing there's no arcane nature, will you not?" Molly waves at the remaining card. 

Well, why not? What does he have to lose? 

He turns over the card, finding a picture of two hands clasped together. 

"What's this?" Fjord asks in surprise, not expecting a card like this among the ones Molly would pull for him based on his reading of his person. 

"Ah, The Clasped Hands. Unity, new relationships." Molly's grin widens. "It's usually associated with love." 

Fjord stares down at it, then slowly lifts his eyes to the other man. "What made you think of me when you pulled this?" 

Molly reaches across the table and stacks the three cards between them, taking the Hands last. Fjord watches him put it back into his deck and shuffle a few times before stowing it in his pocket. "Oh, that's less about what I read off of you. More of a hope, really." 

"A hope?" Fjord repeats with confusion. 

Molly laughs. "Ah, and I thought you were so clever! Well, I suppose you'll just have to wait and see. Perhaps good things could come to you on the front of love if you know where to keep your eyes, Fjord." 

"I--" Fjord starts, but Molly simply laughs again and waves him off with one hand. 

"I must be going, I think. I promised Jester I'd read her cards too, and she's much less cynical than you are, my friend." Molly turns then, walking back through the door he came from. "If you'd like to talk more, you know where to find me." 

Fjord watches him go, feeling as if a tornado just blew through. 


End file.
